That Friday feeling is great – you wake up in the morning and you just know you only have a few hours to go before you are the longest time period away from being back at work on the Monday – between those two points you must fill in as much time as possible fishing while still trying to maintain an ordinary life. You probably don’t have enough time to fit it all in. I certainly don’t.

I have been enjoying reading the posts in your new little bulletin board – I am very impressed that there are almost 60 members in just a few weeks. Members have helped me out with getting the formatting just right so things just look slightly dodgy as opposed to utterly terrible.

Every time I have a look in I have noticed a couple of members or a few guests having a nosey around. If you are a guest please join up and say hello and if a member please leave a message – would be great to hear where you guys have been fishing or what you learned from your last trip. I decided on adding the forum as I am not so egocentric to think you guys want to hear what I have got to natter about all the time.

I have noticed a big influx of visitors the last few weeks due to my adventures with fly fishing for Pike (that’s Northern Pike to my friends over the pond) and reader Scott has been regaling us all in the forum with his adventures at his local pond (no place names in the forum allowed, the last thing I want to do is be responsible for a particular spot becoming hard fished). Also on the Pike front is interesting discussions around wire traces and what material to use.

There have been a few posts in the Kelvin section and I see some old faces and some new ones are cropping up as the weeks go by – looking forward to some intense debate over the coming close season about what people think the best way forward for the Kelvin should be. I also loved hearing about an incident involving the local police and fire service and a well known Kelvinator – I will let you go and read it yourself.

If you have not joined as a member please head over now and say hello – a bit like an addiction meeting where you are allowed to fully embrace and talk about your problem without feeling ashamed.

Dropped my wife off at the hospital and then drove straight for the spot. A much better day all round – sun on the water and baitfish moving in the margins.

Before you pass by that picture above can I just point out how difficult it is to hold your rod in one hand while fighting a toothy beast – and taking a photo with the other!

Three distinct feeding times – one when I arrived (I caught three straight away), another around an hour later and then one when I left mid afternoon. Two guys dead baiting overnight made me a roll n’ sausage which was nice. I passed on the buckfast – it is the sabbath after all…

By far the best pattern was my white EP fibre roachy thing. I decided to keep it on even when it was chewed to bits – after this picture it caught another one.

Scott mentioned in the comments that his finger was burned because of all the stripping – I had to change position of my line finger three times – only changing when they started to weep blood.

Campbell said I should get one of those kinky Michael Jackson gloves – I think that would make me look far too sexy for passing women.

Caught another fish that may have reached the double figure point – maybe just under – I cast towards some scattering baitfish and then there was an almighty WhhhhHHHHOOOOOOOOOSHHHH – at my fly – it was then engulfed and then I let the Pike know who was boss – he was, however it kindly let me land him for a quick photo opportunity…

I think I might be getting a bit blase about catching these big Pike now – only kidding…. How can you get blase about creatures with a set of gnashers like these:

Still no PIke for me on the poppers – Next week I am toying with the idea of taking a boat out on one of the famous lochs for Pike – I have a free day to take up on a secret loch in the hills – however I may just head to the trossachs

Where is this obsession going to end – it started out with a hankering for some Summer Pike around a month ago (that was when I last went after trout if you remember). Then after catching a couple of nice Pike I wanted to get a double figure fish…now I feel my old cheapo rod is not up the job and want a new sexy one and with a bit of luck it may be here for the weekend – mucho thanks to Loop.

Well my dear readers I finally got my wish. I caught a double figure fish on my own tied silver EP fibre fly – will put a picture up at some point – the fly that is. The take was quick and the pike put up a fair scrap..

My rod was bent almost double – I still feel it is too soft and am looking forward to testing out and reviewing the loop rod…

Something that I have read about and have now come to understand is the difficulty in estimating the size of pike in the water – also I suppose the difference in their fighting abilities. When you see a pike in the water and you are trying to land it, the beast may not actually look that big however when you are putting your hands near its jaws suddenly it gets a whole lot bigger – when you get it on the bank (rarely as you should unhook the creatures in the water) you can then fully appreciate the size of the fish – enormous sleek camouflaged dinosaurs that they are – they did not last a couple of million years for nothing I suppose. Ironically a bit of bad handling and they go belly up pretty quick so a bit of time is always needed to make sure they are fully recovered before they go away and sulk for a bit.

Of course my fishing buddy Campbell then blew my one out the water and only caught an even bigger one – this one was weighed by some very nice chaps who were dead baiting nearby – they gave it a good 14lbs.

It is funny catching these big Pike. There seems to be a whole lot of nervous giggling involved – like yes – you have caught an enormous fish but soon you will have to get the forceps out and get your fly out of its teeth. Campbell only caught this one due to getting his lucky hat from the car…

Talking of enormous teeth – check these babies out…

That was on a Pike skeleton we found – now tell me you don’t need a wire trace for these beasts?

Ironically I also caught my smallest pike on the fly – this cheeky wee monkey..

Some of the guys deabaiting were using bigger baits than that – hmmmm could I cast it? Now there is a thought – casting a deadbait with a fly rod – I suppose it defeats the purpose – probably the start of a rocky rod that ends with weekends camped out with bivy tents and little remote controlled boats – Yegads it even sounds appealing when I think about it…..control, control control….must use control before total obsession takes hold…

Of course – now I have caught a doubler (just) my quest is becoming more intense – now I want to catch one in the teens – a high teen at that. Oh yea baby – there will be blood involved I am sure!

Every now and again people get in contact with me about what rod they should buy for the Kelvin or about tactics they should use. Well from now on I will direct them to this post as I say the same thing pretty much every time.

A typical river rod should be about 8 feet long rated for a 4/5 weight Line…that might seem confusing and it is kind of. Essentially a lighter line is for smaller fish and smaller flies and a high number is for big flies and big fish. 4/5 is nice and in the middle. I use a true 8 foot 4 weight – an orvis superfine troutbum.

You will hear people and reviewers talking about fast and slow actioned rods. Essentially if the rod is more whippy then we say that has a slow action – if it is stiff we say that has a fast action. Generally speaking slow action rods cover casting faults (which is why I like them) as well as feeling absolutley lovely in the hand when fishing small streams.

If you want to take your fly fishing seriously (and if you do you will never look at a smelly worm again) you will have to spend a little money on some half decent gear other wise you will wander along wondering why your casting is poor and really not enjoying the whole experience of fishing with a fly rod.

Without further ado here is my plan for your eternal happiness..

Put away your spinning rod and never touch it again unless you surely “must” spin for Salmon – it will only be a distraction on your journey!

You need a new rod and general overall outfit.. Sportfish do a cracking deal on an orvis outfit that comes with rod, reel, fly line backing leader and tippet – you cant go wrong with an orvis…go and buy it from sportfish now. Make sure you select the first rod – the 8 foot six for a 5 weight.

For flies – I use the same flies I use everywhere FLies 1Flies 2 . Essentially, some cdc&elks, some comparaduns, some klinkhammers and some pheasant tail nymphs will do the job. You van buy them from the GAC or through Flying Hooks.

After getting all that stuff you need to do some reading because if you dont you will never catch anything or learn how to fish the fly properly…I recommend this book. You could even watch a dvd about it as seeing is believeing – try this one. You should try and suck up as much information as you can – The Orvis Podcasts are another good place to get info on techniques,

While you are reading as much info as you can, invest in some casting lessons – contact this guy and book an hour or two. It is not as expensive as you might think. Alternatively various fisheries do casting instruction although it may just be a bloke that can cast that shows you – if you go with a proper instructer then all your faults will be ironed out quickly.

Milngavie Fly Dressers are starting their Autumn and Winter classes once more. The classes start on the 2nd October and a detailed program is available (if you contact me I can forward you it) Alternatively you can go ahead and contact Alberto himself.

The class is a mix of experienced and novice tyers so don’t be shy nip along and say hello.

No trout again this week I am afraid – I have a mission you see – an obsession if you will- I want to catch a double figure Pike on the fly rod….today alas it was not me, however I am getting close – oh yes, so close….

It is always worrying when you take someone to a spot and you think you (and he) might blank – it is the first time fisher curse. However on this occasion the toothy beasts were on, then off, then on, then off again – sometimes I wondered if the monsters were going to play ball at all.

I was with Campbell (a reader) who I have been meaning to fish with for a while now for no other reason than he shares my surname and he has caught far more fish on the fly than I have. It was nice meeting someone who is equally as tackle tarty as I am – oh yea – he knew his stuff!

We hit the spot at dawn – or rather just before it as it was still dark when we parked the car (a bit of dodgy timing on my part!)- after an hour of fishing we still did not have a beast from the depths…hey wait a mo – at last I had one on – I had cast towards some fry and my fly was intercepted by an angry pike which took line and was fairly acrobatic.

I am getting to be a dab hand at chinning these Pike now – there is hardly any blood involved anymore…

We plugged on with the pike being very odd – they were in a strange mood – we were not getting as many chases and follows as usual however Campbell spotted a nice Pike in some weeds and decided to try a popper – a popper is a surface lure which is worked on top of the surface – it causes a wake and the pike attack it out of aggression (probably think it is a frog – or even more exciting a duck) – no sooner had he cast a couple of times when KERSPLOOSH – he later told me he would have nightmares about those jaws engulfing the popper – anyway here is a video of the “fight” – more a tug of war with an unstoppable force.

Apologies in advance for dodgy camera work…

As he was playing the beast another Pike was spooked…you may hear us talking about it.

The end result..

And of course the creature was set free so that I can catch him/her next week..

Oh, go on then – here is another…

Anyway, the beast was soon away and I was flailing away with a fly that caused a hell of a lot more disturbance – apart from some interesting movements a few times under the water nothing actually went for it until I moved along the shore ten yards and then a wake of water behind my fly told me something was up – the pike pounced and the game was on – good grief these Pike pull hard – mine was a toddler compared to the last one however it was still great fun…

Something strange was going on with the Pike – they all had some kind of skin condition – parasites maybe? Have a look at the pictures and you will see what I mean.

So – I am a step closer to catching a double figure Pike – in my arsenal for next time I shall be adding some of those poppers (I am sure I have an old trout popper kicking around) also I learned that it is not all hopeless to cast in amongst the weeds – sure you will drag back weed however sometimes, just sometimes it could possibly be a mighty beast.

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.